When A Heart Breaks
by Lulio
Summary: Mugen is sick of it. Sick of sitting around staring at him. Sick of feeling the knot in his stomach every time he looks at him. But when Mugen finally leaves, will Jin realize the truth?
1. Chapter 1

Hey, I really like Mugen/Jin pairings, but it seems like there isn't much of it out there. So I devised this story. =D The first chapter is kinda short, but I think the others will be longer (hopefully).

Rated T for (a lot of) language. Thanks a lot Mugen -_-'

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When A Heart Breaks

The small fire crackled. Fuu inched closer to it, holding her hands out and pouting.

"I'd kill for a hot bath right now," she grumbled.

"Quit yer bitchin'," Mugen replied crossly, staring across the fire at her.

Jin wisely chose to stay silent, merely biting into his freshly caught fish.

The trio had circled around the fire, trying to fend off the cold. Daylight was fading fast, luckily there was a small spring near the outskirts of the forest that they could catch fish in. Now there was nothing to do but pass the time, they would look for a town in the morning.

"Ugh! I'm so hungry!" Fuu lamented, already finished her fish.

Mugen twitched in annoyance at that. Jin slyly looked over. Catching the obviously irritated look painted on his face almost made him laugh.

"There'll be plenty of food in the next town," he said calmly.

"Damn right. First thing I'm doing is getting' some booze," Mugen declared with a deviant grin.

Fuu rolled her eyes and turned to find a comfortable looking patch of grass to lay on. Jin silently did the same moments later.

Mugen watched him stand, his eyes following the man until he lied down. His stomach suddenly turning sour, Mugen took one more savage bite of his already cold fish and flopped on his back. He stared at the stars with his hands crossed under his head for a long time before actually drifting into sleep.

. . .

Jin stirred first. Propping himself up on his elbows, he stifled a yawn. Taking advantage of his time by himself and the mildly warm weather, he stood quietly and made his way to the spring. Stripping his clothes, he waded in to bathe himself, letting the water awaken him.

A ray of sun landed directly on Mugen's left eye.

"Urg," he grumbled at the red blotch he was seeing under his closed eyelid. Reluctantly, he shook himself awake, stretching his long limbs to the sky. Sitting up and swinging his legs crossed in front of him, he stared directly ahead. The sunlight reflected off the water made him slit his eyes, but they widened moments later when they saw his silhouetted figure standing there. Mugen stiffened at the sight of Jin, completely naked, cupping water over his face and chest. Both shocked and disgusted by his own arousal at this sight, he tried to turn away. Only to find that he couldn't. His fists tightened tensely, his mind completely void of thought. Transfixed, he sat that way for a period of time that didn't seem quite long enough before Jin started to head back for his clothes. Mugen finally yanked his head away then, standing stiffly and turning to walk in the opposite direction.

Not wanting to be caught looking like a gay pervert he leaned behind a tree and waited. Once he felt it was safe to emerge he made his way to the fire that Jin was kindling.

"Where were you?" Jin inquired.

"I had to take a piss, what's it to ya?" Mugen retorted snappily.

Jin raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

Mugen looked over to where Fuu was still sleeping. She appeared to be drooling. _I'd bet hard money she's dreaming up a buffet of food right about now,_ he thought with amusement.

Thinking of food, Mugen's stomach had begun to growl demandingly.

"So the only thing to eat around here is fish?"

Jin looked up almost lazily, "what else did you have in mind?" he said sardonically.

Mugen glared across the fire at him. "Fine." he said gruffly, slinging his sword and ambling to the water.

Jin got up to follow but Fuu began to mumble and turn, slowly waking up. Sitting back down, he poked at the wood in the flames absently.

Mugen splashed in the water, trying to spear a fish with his sword. He had seen Jin catch one with his bare hands just yesterday, and was becoming irritated just thinking of it. Stopping for the moment, he looked back to where Jin was, and saw that Fuu was (finally) up and chatting with him. Seeing how easily she conversed with Jin, how open and damn near _flirtatious_ she acted around him made him even more angry, and he found himself stabbing and swiping blindly at the water. Now mostly all the fish had swam away out of fright, and he stared at his reflection on the surface. There was a knot in his stomach that he didn't think was from hunger, but he pushed it from his mind.

Not wanting to admit defeat, he lunged wildly at the closest fish he saw, teetering on the edge of the rock he was balancing on, and fell face first into the cold stream.

Both Jin and Fuu turned their heads at the splash, staring open-mouthed at Mugen fumbling over the rocks.

"Sonofa_bitch!" _he cursed loudly, wringing out his clothing. Moodily walking back to the others, he glowered, looking only at the ground.

Fuu began to snicker, then full out laugh at this site. Mugen was about to snap at her but flushed upon seeing that Jin was also smiling in amusement. White anger flashed through his body, and he slung his sword back over his shoulder.

"Fine, you know what? Screw this. Screw you and your stupid-ass sunflower dude, I'm leaving." he said in a rage.

"What? Mugen, don't be ridiculous, we had a deal!" Fuu replied, finally recovering from her laughing fit.

"Like I really give a damn. No, I'm gonna find some real fucking food, a real fucking bed, and some real fucking _women!" _the last word coming out especially venomous. And with that he turned, and walked into the forest they had came from.

. . .

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Okay, chapter one done. ^-^ I hope I didn't totally screw up the characters... ^_^'''

Reviews make me happy.


	2. Chapter 2

I hope this chapter is long enough...

In any case, thanks for reading! And I do not own Samurai Champloo =P

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When A Heart Break

Chapter 2

The midmorning sun was beginning to shine through the trees. Jin and Fuu had sat in stunned silence, Fuu's mouth hung ajar in shock while Jin merely stared, dumbfounded, at the trees where Mugen had departed.

"What an idiot..." Fuu broke the silence first, "no way he's just gonna _go back,_ he has nowhere to go _to,_" she said, trying to convince herself as well as Jin. "You think so too, right Jin?" she added tentatively.

"Yes, he'll tire of the fit he's having sooner or later," he replied coolly.

"So we just sit and wait for him?" Fuu asked with dismay.

"Unless you want to go looking for him, I see no other options," Jin stated.

Fuu's face fell, "Why did that jerk have to take off? Now its gonna be _forever _till we'll get an actual meal... And a bath, for that matter," she moaned with a pout.

So they continued their daily schedule, Jin caught fish while Fuu scavenged nearby for berries of any kind, both convinced Mugen would be back by nightfall. But nightfall came and went, with no sign of the man. Fuu kept glancing anxiously in the direction Mugen had gone, Jin sat contemplatively, staring only into his lap.

"Maybe... Maybe we should go look for him?" Fuu half stated, half asked.

"We'd have no chance of finding him at night, we need the daylight," Jin said, suddenly regretting their assumption that Mugen would return by nightfall.

"Well then we should go in the morning. First thing!" Fuu exclaimed, suddenly very worried.

Jin nodded in agreement, silently wondering what exactly it was that motivated Mugen to act so angrily in the first place.

Soon after, they tried to get some rest, although the only sleep either of them received was minimal and full of distressing dreams.

. . .

Early the next morning, without bothering to kindle the fire, Jin and Fuu agreed to fan the forest, splitting up to gain more ground coverage. Jin took to the left, leaving Fuu to inspect the right.

Jin had walked for almost an hour, listening carefully for any sign of Mugen, '_He may be irrational, and he does have an extreme temper, but even for him, this is ridiculous. There must have been some other reason...' _Jin pondered while walking. Soon after, he heard a noise. Jin stopped dead in his tracks, straining to make out the sound. _'Is that... _snoring?_'_ .He thought wildly. Stepping around a particularly large tree he saw, in a clearing a few yards away, Mugen, laying under a tree and completely passed out. Jin stared, dumbfounded for the second time. _'I don't believe this, all this time we were so worried and he's just lazing around, _sleeping?!_' _Jin twitched with aggravation.

Swiftly making his way to where Mugen was snoozing, he kicked the man in the leg.

"What the hell??" Mugen exclaimed, jaggedly looking around. Staring upward, he glared at Jin.

"What have you been doing? We were worried, you fool," Jin informed him.

"Save it. I ain't going back," Mugen replied with a bitter smile.

"Yes you are," Jin stated flatly, "even if I have to drag you."

Mugen continued to stare defiantly into Jin's face.

"What made you leave anyway? Don't tell me it was seriously just you falling into that river," Jin asked skeptically.

"Why don't you mind yer own frigging business?" Mugen snapped.

Jin smirked, "so it _was _something else," he deducted.

Mugen glowered, " shut your mouth," he warned.

Jin took no notice, "was it Fuu? The way she laughed at you? Are you in love with her?" he questioned.

Then Mugen was on his feet, unhitching his sword and pointing it directly at Jin's neck, "say another word and you're a dead man standing," he said in a venomously threatening tone.

"I've hit a nerve then," Jin continued to reason, "but that's still a completely idiotic excuse for your actions."

Mugen growled, swinging his sword and leaping at Jin.

In a flash, Jin's sword was drawn and blocking Mugen's frontal blow. Mugen swung low on his heels, aiming to slash Jin in the back. Jin jumped away lightly, gaining distance. Mugen ran after him, swinging wildly, angrily.

_'That bastard, how could he not know...?'_ Mugen raged internally, _'How could he not realize that I_-_'_

Interrupting Mugen's thoughts, Jin swipes low at Mugen's legs. He jumped back, landing on his hands, he furiously swung his foot, making contact with Jin's face. Jin faltered, loosing his balance. He struck out blindly in Mugen's general direction, and felt his blade slice through something, though not knowing what. Toppling to the ground, he prepared to roll and dodge Mugen's next attack. But looking up he saw that Mugen was standing rigidly, eyes wide. Jin froze. Mugen was clutching his midsection, blood was oozing from his fingers and dripping to the ground.

"B-bastard... We aren't finished yet," he growled.

Jin stared, horrified. "We have to get you back," he said numbly, "that wound is serious, Mugen."

"Shut up! I told you I wouldn't go back! How many ti-" at that Mugen bent forward in pain. He turned and started to walk deeper into the forest.

Finally regaining control over his muscles, Jin leaped to his feel, rushing after Mugen and grabbing his shoulders firmly. "I'm not letting you leave!" he burst angrily.

"Get the fuck off of me! How much more damage are you gonna do, Jin?" he questioned bitterly.

Jin's fingers went lax, and he took a step back rigidly, "I..."

"At least let me keep my dignity, " Mugen continued with resentment. That being said, he limped off deeper into the woods.

Jin watched him go, not knowing what to do. The numbness in his body was back, and he could do nothing but stand helplessly, watching Mugen limp away. He stood until he could no longer see Mugen's form. And then he stood a bit longer.

Eventually, he took a jagged step back. Then another. Until finally he was headed back to where they had camped, dread and guilt weighing heavily on his shoulders. Fuu was already there, finding no trace of Mugen, she had given up hours ago, and was now crouching in front of a blazing fire.

Hearing him return, her head perked up swiftly, "did you find him? Any trace?" she asked anxiously.

He stared at her for a moment, "... No, no trace..." he answered.

. . .

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Well, the word count says that this chapter is a liiiiittle bit longer. So that's good, at least.

I was really worried about the fight scene, cuz I've never written anything like it before. So please give me your input! **-**bows**-**


	3. Chapter 3

Oh my goodness I am so so so sorry it took me forever to update. But when school came back around it was a struggle. Also, I needed to reestablish the way I was going about writing this. I didn't want to rush into anything, sadly, I think I failed at that (again). But I hope you find some good in it despite that. ^_^

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Later that night Jin stared at the sky grimly. The stars above him gave his spinning head no comfort. Ever since he had let Mugen leave there was a wrenching feeling in his stomach, like a lead ball was lodged in his gut. The guilt did not allow him sleep, which is why he was there, staring at the stars bitterly.

_'How could I just let him walk off??' _Jin cursed, _'And wounded, no less!'_

But Jin didn't like to recall that detail. It was strange, for the longest time Jin had thought of Mugen as a rival, one to be dueled to the death. But now, the image of Mugen walking in the forest, hurt and alone, was enough to make Jin feel sick. He grimaced. Every moment of doing nothing was torture, he had to struggle to act normal in front of Fuu, and now that she was asleep, his inner thoughts were driving him mad.

_'I didn't know what to do,' _he thought, _'when he looked at me so venomously I froze...' _

Jin closed his eyes, feeling heavy. Lately he had felt strange around Mugen, occasionally catching him staring at him oddly. Jin had made nothing of it until now, remembering the bitter way Mugen had snapped when being questioned about Fuu. At the time he had assumed Mugen's reaction indicated that he did indeed have feelings for Fuu, but maybe...

_'No, thats absurd,' _Jin interrupted this line of thought sharply, recalling all of Mugen's past fornication with loose women, _'so it couldn't possibly be that.' _

Jin was just realizing, despite the fact that they had traveled together so long, he really knew little to nothing about Mugen. This thought bothered him an odd way, and he suddenly felt sad, sadder than he had felt since he left the dojo.

A sigh escaped his lips as he turned on his side. Pillowing his head on his hands, he drew his legs in to draw off the cold. But the weather wasn't what chilled him.

_'How long... How long has it been since my gaze fell on Mugen with more than absent observation? This feeling...' _

There was a tight feeling in Jin's chest as images of Mugen passed through his thoughts. Suppression of said thoughts proved to be a difficult task, and Jin rolled over restlessly.

Closing his eyes, he tried to focus only on breathing slowly and deeply. Eventually he drifted into an unsettling sleep.

. . .

Mugen groaned in pain. He had torn one of the sleeves from his red jacket and tied it around his midsection to halt the bleeding. His ripped and stained undershirt had been thrown haphazardly somewhere next to a nearby tree. It had took the rest of his energy to lay himself propped against a tree stump. He stared at the dark sky angrily.

_'How the hell did things come to this?' _He cursed, _'and how could I have let him beat me?!' _

Although he knew the answer to that. He had been so distracted by his own wild thoughts upon Jin's arrival that not only had he rushed angrily into a fight, but had also lost the fight like an idiot, and had limped away not only to lick his wounds, but to wallow in his own pity.

Now he stared at the sky with bitter resentment, as if the stars themselves were out to betray him. The feelings he had for Jin had flared like fire in him, and the only thing he knew what to do with it was vent it through angry actions.

_'Heh, it's just like me to act like a punk, even now...' _

He laughed bitterly, grimacing at the fresh pain it brought. Closing his eyes, he looked back on everything that had happened in the past couple of days. He was too exhausted to feel anger, all he felt was cold and hollow. And it was then that in the first time since he was a boy, Mugen cried.

. . .

Jin's eyes shot open. In the few hours of sleep he received, he suffered a terrible nightmare. As the panicked feeling ebbed from his mind, he noted that it was still dark, morning being several hours away. He sighed as he sat up, thinking back on the dream he had had. He had been back at the dojo, on the night that Mariya Sensei had attempted his assassination. Only it was different. As Mariya fell, his face changed, and suddenly Jin saw that it was Mugen staring up at him, looking confused and betrayed. Horrified, Jin backed away, frantically trying to rub the blood from his hands.

It was then that he woke, shuttering and covered with a cold sweat.

He sat, not sure what he should do. His mind flashed back to the image of Mugen from his dream, and he was on his feet. Swiftly, heading back towards the forest, he was careful not to wake Fuu. He realized that he would be lucky to find Mugen through the dark, but he had to try. He ran faster and faster in and out of the trees, feeling once again that wrenching feeling of panic. Jin had never before acted on impulse like this. He always fought so hard to stay in control of his actions, his _feelings. _Now he was feeling the surge of desire, fear, and panic, all wrapped neatly inside his stomach. He rushed headlong deeper into the forest, blindly searching.

In his haste he had not seen the large branch laying on the forest floor, and he promptly fell face-first on the soft earth. He didn't move, catching his breath, he merely glanced up, but in that moment, froze. Three feet in front of his face was Mugen's shirt, balled up near a tree. And when he looked just a few feet farther, he could make out an outline of someone propped on a tree stump.

Jin's chest heaved with relief. Slowly getting to his feet, he made his way to Mugen's sleeping form. Kneeling over, he extended a hand to Mugen's shoulder. He moved, almost as if to cup Mugen's face, but stopped, drawing back hesitatingly.

Mugen's arm flew from his side, grasping Jin's wrist tightly.

Jin gasped in surprise, "Mugen, how did you... Weren't you sleeping?"

"Kinda hard to sleep when you're crashing around the woods like an idiot," Mugen mumbled his reply.

Jin smiled slightly at the tease, "Come on, you have to get back, out of this forest."

Mugen let out a small sigh. Jin was not unaware that he still had a firm grip on his wrist. Without trying to be impolite, he tried shifting his weight, pulling away from Mugen's grasp.

Mugen's hand tightened, while also reaching with his other arm to seize the sleeve of Jin's kimono. Jin blinked, startled.

Weakly, Mugen pulled Jin closer. Jin felt his lack of strength. He could have drawn back, if he wanted to. Instead, he leaned closer ever so slightly.

"You're a real pain in the ass, know that?" Mugen murmured irritably before pulling him into a surprisingly forceful kiss. Jin's breath hitched at the back of his throat as Mugen's lips met with his own. His lips nearly burned, aflame with a passion left to smolder far too long. Jin's mind went numb as he was swamped with feelings he had never known. He grasped Mugen's face, instinctively leaning closer.

"I love you."

Jin's heart thudded in his chest at the sound of those three words. They were not said lightly. Rather, they had almost a feeling of heavy resignation to them. A mere reluctant statement of obvious fact.

Still, Jin's head swirled with the warm happiness spreading through him.

"Say it again..." he breathed.

"What didn't you hear the first time?" Mugen replied gruffly, but gave him another, more tender kiss.

Jin seemed to melt against him. He had never known a feeling like this.

And now that he had it, he would never let it go.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

And thats the end of it. ^_^ I hope it wasn't so bad. And again, I hope the fact that it took ages to update didn't disappoint anyone. I will try to be better with that next time. So, reviews are lovely. ^_^


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